Kosovo biologist Halil Ibrahimi believes the restrictions imposed by the pandemic have a positive aspect, as he was able to complete his research, raise public awareness about river basin contamination and call an insect discovered by him coronavirus.
Ibrahimi, 44, spent years researching one tricopter insect found in the Prokletije Mountains National Park in western Kosovo. The species is now called Potamophylax coronavirus.
As a professor in the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the University of Pristina, Ibrahimi collected the species, which turned out to be endemic to a national park, 120 kilometers west of Pristina, and determined that it was very different from the other species in the Balkans.
It is much smaller and its habitat is different, as it is 2,000 meters above sea level.
He announced the name he had chosen for the species in a scientific journal this month.
“The coronavirus was the most vivid when the species was discovered”, He said.
In the course of his research, Ibrahimi also warned that the Lumbardhi and Deçanit River, where the species was found, has deteriorated severely in recent years due to the construction of a hydroelectric plant.